new inline photo method? [[ vs {{

Question

If you click through to see a photo, with its information .. there are now two new options to 'use' the picture somewhere in text:   "Use [[" and "Use {{"

I like the fact that "Use [[" seems to give more freedom that just 'b', 'm', 's' for the size of the picture. But apart from that I don't see what is the reason for the two forms. The FAQ has not yet been updated to describe the new option.

Is there anybody that can explain? It seems 'in development'..

Comments

Can you please give the link to a photo page where you see this, NC? I can't find it on the first photo page I looked at. The "Use Inside Text" section seems unchanged.

(In general and not for NC specifically, it's very helpful if whenever in a G2G post a web page is mentioned, a link to it is provided :-)

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It's not new at all.  I have used the [[square brackets]] for years.  It has been most helpful when I wanted to use an image as a bullet point, keeping it fully inline with the following text.

Also, there is no need at all when using the {{curly braces}} to limit yourself to s, m, or l.  I almost always set a pixel limit for the size parameter.

Both methods allow for alt text to allow those using screen readers to get an explanation of what an image is, rather than just know an image is there.

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Thanks! I've just checked, and the 'Use [[' or 'Use {{' links seem to be added by the wikitree browser extension. (Or I need to log in, which doesn't work in that one browser..??)

But indeed, both the [[...]] and {{...}} formats have to be part of the standard wikitree.
However.. the photos help page only has {{...}}
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Photos_FAQ

Could you say what is the difference between the two formats?

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Sorry Jim. It seems different from what either me or you would have expected. It looks like these links I'm referring to are added by the wikitree browser extension. If you don't have it installed, you don't get them.
However, the [[...]] and {{...}} formats should exist for everybody. But I don't find any description of [[...]] in the help FAQ.

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For me the main difference is - I cannot set an image using {{curly braces}} inline the way I can an image using [[square brackets]].  Example: in a listing of children on a parent's profile, I might mark twins using  [[Image:ADWP-117.png|18px|Multiple birth: twins]] after the child's name in the list.  I have been unable to duplicate that using the braces.  (Doesn't mean it can't be done, just that I have not been able to.)
I also tend to use the [[brackets]] code when using images in a table.

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I am using WBE, but I don't see any [[...]] instructions. Is there some WBE option I have to turn on? Or doesn't this feature work on iPad Safari?

Maybe somebody who can see them could please post the full instructions here for reference.

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The [[ version is part of the MediaWiki code. The {{ version uses the [[ version inside of the template, and is the recommended way for people to add photos.

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OK.. but where is the help for the mediawiki stuff.

And why do the curly brackets exist, if they are based on the square brackets?  What is their purpose if there is no additional functionality?

How did you ever find out about the square brackets?

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There is no help for the MediaWiki stuff because while it's there because WikiTree was based on a 2008 version of MediaWiki, it's not technically supported by WikiTree and could break. I don't think the image stuff will break in the future, but we have disabled other MediaWiki features in the past.

The template (curly braces) makes it easier for most people to use images in the biography.

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And here is the link for the image template https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Template:Image

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Ah.. when I saw the [[...]] it had pixel widths. And I had been having trouble trying to fashion a FreeSpace page with a gallery of pictures, collected by a grandfather. So I went from {{}} to [[]].  Part of my problem with {{}} was also how clumsy the captions came out and took too much space.

Would you have suggestions for that use case?

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:CollectionNicolaasJohannesBrummer

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For those interested, mediawiki have their own documentation for their image format:

https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Images/en

.. but I now seem to understand that wikitree built its own image template {{}} on top of that

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@Melanie - the reason that the {{Image}} template is a bit clunky to use and does not line up with text correctly is because the template was built using a table. There is a cell for the image, a cell for the caption, etc.

I also use [...] for images when needed:

[https://www.wikitree.com https://www.wikitree.com/photo.php/8/81/WikiTree_Images_New-7.png]